Many functions of modern devices in automotive, consumer and industrial applications, such as converting electrical energy and driving an electric motor or an electric machine, rely on semiconductor devices. For example, Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs), Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistors (MOSFETs) and diodes, to name a few, have been used for various applications including, but not limited to switches in power supplies and power converters.
Some of such power semiconductor devices, e.g., power semiconductor transistors, are capable of conducting a load current in both a forward direction and a reverse direction, such as an Reverse Conducting IGBT (RC-IGBT).
A power semiconductor transistor is usually designed to continuously operate under nominal conditions, according to which, e.g., a load current does normally not exceed a nominal value for more than a predetermined time period.
Occasionally, a power semiconductor transistor may nevertheless become subjected to an overload current that is significantly higher than a nominal load current. During such overload state, the power semiconductor transistor is usually not switched; rather, an eventual switching operation is deferred until the overload current has dropped down to a certain value.
Even though the power semiconductor transistor may not be designed to continuously operate in the overload state, it may be required that the power semiconductor transistor can withstand the overload current for some period of time without suffering any damages.